This is the best oxtail pho in Orange County. Period. Well, actually, there is one other that’s exactly the same…
Photo of the Week: Coit Tower, San Francisco
Here’s the view from the observation deck of Coit Tower, which sits at the top San Francisco’s Telegraph Hill. The tower just celebrated its 85th birthday…
Photo of the week: Painted Ladies, San Francisco
San Francisco’s famous “painted ladies” at Alamo Square were built in the 1890s (by the guy who lived in those days in the sixth house from the right)…
Dish of the week: Torta at Playa Mesa, Costa Mesa
When the waitress sets it on the table with a thud, I immediately assure myself that I’m not crazy enough to eat this entire sandwich. I’ll just eat half of it, at which point I will assert self control. Somewhere along the way my plan goes awry…
Review: Intercontinental Los Angeles Downtown
The 73-story Intercontinental Los Angeles Downtown is the tallest building west of Chicago. It’s the highest hotel in the city — and the reigning most-talked-about skyscraper of L.A.’s rapidly expanding downtown skyline.
Review: Proper Hotel, San Francisco
San Francisco’s Proper Hotel is important for several reasons. When it opened last fall, it was the first new luxury hotel to open in the city in years. It also marked the second coming of Brad Korzan and Kelly Wearstler, the visionary duo behind the Viceroy brand.
Dish of the week: Yellowtail ceviche at Central, Laguna Beach
This ceviche at Central in Laguna Beach is extraordinary. Chef Michael Campbell weaves ribbons of yellowtail into a beautiful tapestry with cherry tomatoes, red onion and fresno chiles in citrus-coconut broth…
Photo of the week: Chetito, Mexico City
Best. Salsas. Ever. At a great little taco-and-tequila bar called Chetito in Mexico City.
Review: Four Seasons Mexico City
The Four Seasons Mexico City got a much-needed refresh three years ago by the Parisian design house Gilles & Boissier. Although the hotel had been open only since 1994, the top-to-bottom renovation of this Spanish revival courtyard building felt long overdue…
Where to eat in Mexico City, 2018 update
A gourmet weekend in Mexico City? Great idea. These are my favorite fine-dining restaurants right now in Mexico’s capital.
Review: The St. Regis, Mexico City
The St. Regis Mexico City rises above the Paseo de la Reforma in a beautiful 32-story Cesar Pelli-designed tower. When the hotel opened in 2008, it was immediately the most luxurious hotel in the capital. It still is. The 189-room hotel overlooks the Reforma’s statue of Diana in the heart of Colonia Cuauhtemoc. The neighborhoods …
Review: The NoMad Hotel, Los Angeles
The NoMad Hotel in downtown Los Angeles opened in January 2018 and occupies a 12-story building that was originally erected in the roaring 1920s as the American headquarters of The Bank of Italy.
Photo of the week: Museo Soumaya, Mexico City
This is such an incredible feat of architecture by Fernando Romero. The museum was founded in 2011 by billionaire Carlos Slim and is named after his late wife, Soumaya.
What to eat next in Mexico City: incredible fish tacos at Zanaya
Absolutely incredible. The ultimate highlight — of many highs — of my most recent dining tour of Mexico City was the Zarandeado fish tacos at Zanaya, at the Four Seasons hotel…
O.C. Review: Southern Spice, Irvine
Dining at Southern Spice will test your threshold for chaos. You’ll wish you had swallowed a Valium before leaving the house. But you will eat very well.
Just Announced: 60th Annual SoCal Journalism Awards!
The Los Angeles Press Club just announced the winners of the Southern California Journalism Awards, and I’m thrilled to have won Best Food Criticism for my reviews in the Orange County Register for the second year in a row. Here are two of the reviews that got me into the competition this year.
